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Show Signpost September26,1980 pafe 8 Students Can Discern If Instructors Care About Teaching by Craig Shurtleff What is the purpose of education? It is not money or salaries. It is learnig. A teacher who looks at teaching as "just a job";who continually ignores the responsibility of stimulating and challenging teaching; who avoids new approaches and ideas for the security of familiarity-is not fulfilling his reponsibility of students of this college When a politican ignores responsibilities, his constituents have recourse against him at the next election. What recourse do students have when a teacaher ignores educational repoonsibilities? None. I don't presume, as a student, to be qualified in determining what an instructor should or should not teach. Students are able to discern whether a teacaher cares about the quality of his classses. I am not suggesting that students be given authority to remove teachers from their jobs. I am suggesting that students be given the opportunity to evaluate each class and voice their opinions to department chairmen. In fact, this evaluation would be merely a part of the departments consideration of classes and instructors. Student opinion would not be the sole criteria for a teacher's status. Students should have a voice concerning the classes they attend.This evalutation should consist of two periods per class, an orientation class at the first of the quarter and an evaluation class near the end. This evaluation process should be part of every class. Performance that can be measured can be improved. The orientation allows the teacher to inform the classs of his expectations. Most classes use this type of orientation already, but it is rarely followed up by a written evaluation. The evaluation class could consist of verbal feedback to the teacher and a written evaluation submitted to the department. These suggestions sound logical and are already used, but not often. A constant measuring of student opinions, inevery class, could help teachers, chairmen, and students identify problems How many times have students finished a class still unaware of what the teacher wanted or what their grade would be? Of, course there will be the few students who complain because they have 121 YES 70 YES NO 1 . Do all operators of your car(s) have driving records free of moving , violations or convictions for at least the past 1 three years? I I I I 2. Have all operators of yourcar(s) been licensed drivers for the past six years or , , longer? I I I I 3. Do you use your car(s) for pleasure purposes, in- . . eluding light commuting? I I I I 4. Have you had a claim-free record for i the past three years? I I I I Were you able to answer yes to four or close to it? That means you're probably a good driver. And Commercial Union believes drivers like you deserve lower insurance rates. That's why we've designed a special insurance plan just for you . . . it's called Custom Auto. If in addition to being a good driver, vou own a 1976 or newer Buick Skylark, Dodge Aspen, Plymouth Volare, or a number of other models that our research has shown cost less to repair, Custom Auto could save you even more. All together up to 20 annually. Plus, if you are still with the Custom Auto Program after three years and you have no claims . . . you can qualify for additional premium credits. So before you go shopping for a new car for yourself . . . or a second car for your family . . . stop in to see us about Custom Auto. Where you control the cost Morse Insurance Agency 1920 West 5200 South Rov, Utah 84067 phone 731 1900 ' failed to do the work for the class, but this type of complaint can be identified by constant evaluation of all students. However, when a particular class, student, or teacher consistently receives negative comments in the evaluation, the department can take steps to correct the identified problem. If a teacher is found to be at fault and continues his irresponsibility in the classroom, after consultation with department leaders, the responsibility of those leaders is to see that the students receive better instruction. The student evaluation is merely a survey or barometer that could help departments identify their problems. Deans and chairmen can not be in class every day, but the student can. This evaluation could become a valuable indicator of the classroom situation.When a new instructor continually proves himself irresponsible he can be replaced.What about our tenured instructors? Are irresponsible professors allowed to continue teaching merely because of seniority? I'm not trying to rid people of their jobs but to identify their problems, and help correct them. This is the value of the student evaluation. Job security and seniority are important, but when they are used as shelters from responsible teaching, they must be circumvented. Ir-responsibe teachers can not be stationed on America's front line the classroom ! Reflections On a Active Summer by Doug Harris Well another year, and a new crop of Freshmen women are upon us. Uh, let me rephase that. Summer typically is over too soon, and it is only fitting that I reflect for just a moment on afl that has transpired. It's appropriate for a couple of reasons. First, because it popped into my head, and second, because my contract says I have a certain amount of space to fill up. First the bad news. The hostages are still in Iran, parking decals have gone up (while the collective mental capacity of the department in charge of such things has obviously gone down), and Jimmy Carter is still President. Of course those things can change. Soon the hostages will have been in Iran long enough to claim citizenship, and they can fly out of their own free will. The parking problem is Class Rings, marked 10K. Paying $10 to $100. Aiso, buying any form of gold or silver. 2958 Washington Blvd., Ogden Utah. aready clearing up. Who can afford to bring their car all the way to school? And this November we will solve our problem in the White House. That is, if Ronnie will just keep his mouth shut until Election Day. Now the good news. We have been blessed from heaven with a new studentbody president. No, that's not that great of a blessing, but I guess when it's either that or manna every morning, we did okay for ourselves. And of course we all went on vacation, which is usually nice. When I got back in town I was relaying my disgust with visiting Dallas to a group of people down at work. My concluding advice was to "stay away from Dallas because all they have there are football players and prostitutes". My boss, somewhat agitated, informed me in no uncertain terms that his wife was from Dallas. "Really?", I replied, "What position does she play?" It wasn't that big of a deal. I'm still employed, although cleaning out trash cans everyday has not been the realization of my life's ambition. Fortunately there are a number of constant factors that make life worth living. Every September Weber State opens up, giving us a fresh chance to fail all those classes over again. And if I get skipped over for any more promotions at work, maybe I can find some kind of job at WSC. I wonder who they get to feed all those damn ducks... |